First Bites - September 2023 - A Small Taste of Home

Snacks That Take You Back
Do you remember your favourite snack from when you were a kid? For Tetia Bayoro, some childhood treats bring back fond memories of growing up on the Ivory Coast and spending time with her mother. “Everything was made at home,” she says. "We learned to do stuff at home, and to bring it to school at recess.”

Soon after Bayoro moved to Ottawa in early 2020, everything shut down because of the pandemic. She started to feel nostalgic for family and the comforts of home.

“I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we had those snacks like we had when we were kids here?’” And not long after that, Chap Chap Snacks was born. Bayoro’s sister came up with the name from Ivorian slang, and it means to do something quickly, as in, “I want to do something chap chap.”

And just like that, Chap Chap Snacks has launched various products inspired by Ivory Coast and West Africa. Bayoro highlights the cassava chips and coconut shortbread as two of her favourites, but she’s excited about the new chocolates that will be available this fall. Many Canadians might not know that Ivory Coast is the world’s largest producer of cocoa beans, Bayoro says. With flavours such as mango, coconut, blueberry and maple in the works, Bayoro wants to “mix those ingredients from those two parts of the world, West Africa and Canada.”

Chap Chap Snacks
chapchapsnacks.com | @chapchap.snacks

Find it at: Afrotechture in the ByWard Market and Ottawa Artisans Store at Tanger Outlets (in limited quantities) and online.

A Golden Opportunity
Nima London long toyed with the idea of selling bayga — a Djiboutian treat made with black-eyed peas, red kidney beans, cilantro and a few secret ingredients from her grandmother’s recipe — but it never felt like the right time. Then the pandemic hit. She started to notice people making and selling food on Instagram. She also started working at the Parkdale Food Centre, where people encouraged her to sell her bayga at the Parkdale Market. It was finally the right time.

“When you’re starting, you just need people. You need support, right? And when you receive it, you know you’re doing the right thing,” London says, “I’m so grateful that I came across people at Parkdale Food Centre.” London used the Parkdale Food Centre’s kitchen to kickstart Nims Golden Bagya, taking it to the first market in the summer of 2021.

Bagya is a falafel-like snack, but London insists it deserves more credit than that. “Once you come to the market, you’ll see. People don’t expect the taste that it has. It’s very addictive,” she says. And don’t forget the sweet chili sauce, another passed-down family recipe. Looking ahead, London hopes to find a commercial kitchen space this year, expand her product list, and give back to the community.

“This is just the beginning for Nims Golden Bagya. I can’t wait. Once I have my kitchen... I’m going to go all out.”

Nims Golden Bagya
nimsgoldenbagya.ca | @nimsgoldenbagya

Find it at: Parkdale Market and online.

Easy as Pie
Ganiyat Zurakat says she’s an “accidental entrepreneur.” Cooking and baking were something she always did for fun — not as a business. Although she liked making fresh Nigerian meat pies, a treat from her childhood, it was a tedious process. After coming across ready-to-bake sausages at the grocery store one day, Zurakat got the idea to create ready-to-bake meat pies that could be thrown in the freezer and baked easily for her family without sacrificing the flavour or freshness.

Thanks to encouragement from a friend, Zurakat launched Gee’s Pastries shortly after moving to Ottawa in 2020. Using local ingredients to emulate the flavours from home in Nigeria, Zurakat’s meat pies are filled with ground beef or chicken, spices, diced carrots and potatoes. Now operating out of a commercial kitchen, Zurakat feels it's important the meat pies still taste like the ones she makes at
home. “I always feel fulfilled when people try it out, and they [say], ‘This is the real deal. This reminds me of the taste of Nigerian meat pies back home,’” she says.

Zurakat hopes Gee’s Pastries will be a helping hand for people, especially business professionals and parents that may not have a lot of time for meal prep, but want to feed their family healthy foods. “You don’t have to sacrifice quality because you want to make things convenient,” she says.

Find Gee’s Pastries at the Barrhaven Farmers’ Market this fall, and check their Instagram for an up-to-date list of local shops where you can get them.

Gee’s Pastries
gees-pastries.square.site | @geespastries